Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony reunite — for '!Q'Viva!: The Chosen'

Share this:

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony are together again — as producers of “!Q’Viva!: The Chosen,” Univision’s massive talent search debuting Saturday, Jan. 28.

The talent search takes viewers on an international quest through Spanish-speaking countries, in search of amazing talent, some of which was on display very early Saturday (Jan. 14) morning during the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena.

Unfortunately, Univision managed to mar the event by allowing journalists to ask only a couple of questions and having their own on-the-payroll journalist ask pre-approved questions. The cable network also blocked the exits, stopped access to the talent and generally cause an uproar among journalists at the early morning session.

“There are good ideas and there are great ideas, and great ideas are when everybody wins,” says Anthony of the newest entrant onto the singing competition genre. “We had many things to consider project-wise, and it was about time to take (this) on.”

Lopez, stunning in a second-skin blue leather dress with flower cutouts, and accessorized with many diamond rings, says, “It was our dream to show the world what Latin America talent is.”

The show is in Spanish, Portuguese and English. After launching on Univision in 12 one-hour episodes, it will later be picked up by other networks, including, reportedly, FOX in the United States. The details — among others — were not made super clear, so we can’t tell you more than that.

Anthony however, emphasizes that there is no grand prize and that he, Lopez, and co-producer Jaime King, “are not judges. We are show producers and putting together a live show, and we are documenting the process. They are not winning anything. We are casting a live extravaganza with Latin talent and that is a huge misconception I want to address.”

The room grew tense as reporters at the Television Critics Association were not allowed to ask questions — which is the reason they are there — and Univision was determined to manage the writers (never a wise idea), run over the session’s allotted time and put on a show.

To be fair, the show was electrifying with different types of drummers and dancers. Men in hot pink sequined tuxedos and women in skimpy chorine matching outfits did some fancy stepping with excellent flip turns.

Who they were, where they were from and how this all fits in to the show is worth knowing. Had the network figured out how to present this it could have been a “Sabado Gigante” (the station’s terrifically fun variety show celebrating is 50th anniversary) because it is Saturday and this looks as if it could be giant.